Cat and Mouse
by thir13enth
Summary: "Wait, Light-kun...if you have to be with him all the time...does that mean you sleep with him?" A collection of fics.  Of course: L/Light
1. Liar

**There's some yaoi, if you squint.**

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><p><strong>Liar<strong>

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><p>It was a hot and sweaty summer day in Tokyo, and the Kira detective agents were unfortunately sweating profusely in their work shirts and suits due to the broken air conditioning system, which the government had promised to fix over two weeks ago (after a summer holiday break and a deadline extension).<p>

Of course, being the government, the air system was never repaired and the task force was already stripped down to workshirts and loosened ties, their suit jackets thrown to the corner, over chairs, tables, computer monitors, and even a-was that Matsuda's?-suitjacket was hung at the window to create a makeshift curtain.

And we all know men sweat without shame or consideration for the growing acrid scent of the room.

Nothing was happening-even the computers were burnt out in the heat and processing. The task manager was opened at least two fold the number of times today, and impatience grinded at everyone's mind.

Light Yagami sat in the corner, his computer closest to the wall. He was trying to stay as still as possible in hopes that the heat exhaustion wouldn't get to him, but he was eye sore from staring at the computer screen that had been on 37 percent downloaded for longer than L could keep his eyes open without blinking.

Light turned his head to the rest of the Japanese police crew. Everyone was dying but it seemed L was the only one not suffering, not a visible drop of sweat on him, and sipping on hot overly sugared coffee.

The auburn haired boy turned his head back to his computer screen, which cheerfully displayed 37 percent on the download bar.

38 percent now.

Light sighed, running his hands through his lightly sweat dampened hair and closing his eyes for a moment, reopening them to a hazy exhaustion that convinced Light that he was not going to be siting there in the office any more longer.

He stood up, jerking the handcuffs and scooted his chair back. The clink of the chains and fart of the chair legs on humid tile snapped up the attention of the others.

"Ryuuzaki and I are going to be taking a break," he declared, tugging at the shackles to cue the black haired detective get up as well.

L stay put.

"I don't need a break," he said simply.

"But you're attached to me," Light replied. "Come on."

No movement.

"I'm getting strawberry shortcake. I was hoping we could split it."

Bare feet hit the floor.

"Ja ne!" L waved, dragging Light out the door with him.

They exited the building, venturing into the sweltering temperatures of metropolitan Tokyo. The two teenagers took a right, toward one of L's favorite bakeries.

L's heart skipped four beats when he looked up to meet eyes with the love of his life, who was standing by the window with him-across the glass.

A gorgeous (yes, more gorgeous than Light Yagami) personal cake made with white frosting that contained specks of strawberry and sprinkled with small chocolate chips, holding up the king of all strawberries-poised, juicy and ripe, on top, dipped in hardened chocolate and nuts-sugared nuts.

Light walked on past the bakery, preventing L from propsing to the sweet dessert.

"Aren't we getting cake, Yagami-kun?" L asked, black void eyes staring down at Light. Light would take it as a challenging glare for having interrupted L's confession of love to the cake on display.

"I lied," Light said, without missing a beat, pulling L past the sweets.

"Then?" L asked, unsticking his hands and face from the window glass and catching up with the other guy.

"We're going to the beach."

L protested, but Light insisted the beach was the only place where no shoes were required.

And that L needed a tan anyway.

**darkerthanblack**

Being Light Yagami, Light was stunning as he walked out of the blue beach water, skin sparkling with trails of ocean falling off his skin, shirtless and only some bermuda trunks to leave the rest for the female population on shore to imagine. He dragged out a rather dismissive L from the water with him, black hair tamed, plastered to his neck and face, coughing in distaste of the ocean salt on his tongue.

Light chose a spot to sit down on the sand, and the other gender followed.

They crowded around him at once.

"Hiiiiiii Light-kun!"

"Oi! Light-kun! Fancy meeting you here!"

"Today _is _a pretty hot day isn't it, Light-kun?"

"You have time today right, Liiiiiiight-kun?"

Light cracked a golden smile to each of his admirers, each of them believing his duplicated smiles were uniquely directed to them, and they giggled with pleasure, and like flies on a cake, either buzzed off or hung around.

Eventually they noticed the handcuff on Light's wrist, and then their eyes slowly traced it to the guy sitting next to Light, but ignored. L was pretty content with the soft white beach sand running over his toes however, and only looked up from his crouch when he felt eyes staring at him. He stared back, panda eyes unwavering, like how his wet shirt and jeans stuck to his pale skin.

"Light-kun? What happened here?"

"Are you in trouble?"

"...You're not into _bondage_, are you?"

"Is that a friend? Why is _he _with you?"

Light gave them the million dollar smile again and explained: "Well this is one of the cases my father is working on. He's a wild child, and I volunteered to take care of him while I exposed him to society, so now he's chained to me."

L bared his teeth and waved to his spectators.

"Oh, Light! You're such a kind person!"

"You're so sweet to help out your father!"

"I'm so relieved that _you _aren't the one in trouble!"

"Wow! Good luck with that!"

After a few more complementary murmurs, suddenly a fangirl realized something.

"Wait, Light-kun...if you have to be with him all the time...does that mean you _sleep_ with him?"

The other girls gasped in exclamation and repeated the question in concern.

Light laughed, "No, of course not! He can do that on his own!"

There was a collective sigh of relief and then after a few minutes of goodbyes, the crowd soon dispersed, leaving Light in company of only L.

Light fell back, lying on the sand with his hands under his head, eyes closed in the bright sun.

L snorted, his laugh no longer had to be stifled.

"What," Light asked in annoyance, shooting a sideways glare at the still crouching L.

"Liar," L replied.

"I can't go around telling people that we're working on the Kira case."

L smirked. "No. For what you said after."

Light felt a shiver of a smile crawl onto his face, but he closed his eyes and put a finger over his lips. "Shhh..."

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><p><strong>:P<strong>

**thir13enth**


	2. the Infection

**Kinda angsty.**

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><p><strong>the Infection<strong>

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><p>L was dead, but Light lost the game.<p>

Light had outwitted L, Light had even killed him.

But L was still alive.

Light saw him everywhere, as though the shackles still held them together. He swore he could hear the clink of the chains, the pull of the metal, heavy as his guilty conscience, when he walked. He'd move faster, quicken his pace, but L, like a phantom limb, was always right behind him, weighing him down.

He didn't have a problem killing and he didn't understand why this one affective him so much.

It wasn't because he knew L personally.

_"You're my first friend," L said, slowly but in a matter of fact way, turning his chair a bit to peek behind him to see an emotionally frozen Light._

Bullshit.

All they did was catch each other's thoughts.

But they never caught each other, and if they were at arm's length, they never reached out to clasp the other's hand.

They weren't friends in any aspect of the word, and Light was pretty damn well sure that L was aware that they were each other's best enemy.

What was he trying to do? Tease him?

Poke fun at him? He, who had rightfully evolved to become god?

Time and again L lay off his suspicions of Light and Light would unintentionally lower his guard. But the slightest moment Light would, L would sieve back around to look at him, interrogate him, question his motives, his plans, his ideas, his opinions.

All with that impartial facade, which hid a knowing smirk so side Light could feel the tension of it in the air around him.

L was walking fast, and Light made the effort to stride faster past him, only to realize L had gotten ahead of him and stopped him from going anywhere. And Light couldn't get around him because L forced Light to walk _with_ him, at the same pace.

Again those cursed handcuffs.

They were leashed to each other.

_"It's so sad," L murmured._

_Light's silence asked 'why.'_

_L stopped drying Light's foot to look up at him._

_"Soon we'll part."_

It was one of the few times they had met eye to eye.

L's onyx eyes had rested on—no, locked on—Light's eyes, forcing Light to read the look across L's face.

_Yeah, I know what you're going to do. I know you're going to kill me. But do I give a shit? No, because I figured you out first_, his eyes had said, shadows beneath messy black bangs.

L was struck cold at the threat and tore his eyes.

He never met eyes with L until he caught him at the last seconds of his life.

Seeing the sugar spoon slip out of his fingers, Light spurted forward to catch L, falling from his chair.

Light couldn't hold his smile back any longer, and his back turned to the rest of the astonished detective force, only L saw the glitter in Light's eyes, declaring his victory.

But even in death, L's eyes mocked Light.

_Ha, I knew you were Kira. I was right from the start._

Light cursed.

He had let L die happy.

L didn't hate to die; he hated to lose.

And dying a winner was better than being alive at loss.

Light thought that he could deal with L's victory because Light had more in store for him than did L's corpse.

But Light was wrong.

Light knew his enemy, L, so well, he knew him better than he would have if L was a friend.

He thought he had completely decoded the last words L had trapped in his dark eyes, but he didn't know that he hadn't until later.

It wasn't just 'Ha, I knew you were Kira. I was right from the start.'

It was 'Ha, I knew you were Kira. I was right from the start. But it's far from over. _Watch your back, Kira._'

Light realized L's true message twice: once in Near's apathetic expression, and once again in the flame of Mello's eyes.

Light knew L too well for Light's own comfort.

So well that even dead L was there.

Light saw L in Near's pale calm demeanor, the same bored hand resting on his face, with the same curious eyes that noticed everything they say and didn't see. Thought preceded action and when surprised, rarely startled. he could sit as still as a rock for hours on end, sitting in a stranger manner than Light found unfamiliar, having been adapted to L's consistent crouching. L was in Near's passive aggression, the influence behind Near's orderly stacking. Light didn't see this kid as an individual; Light always saw L in the kid's shadows: in all of Near's objective deductions, in Near's brilliant analysis, in every single one of Near's ethical stances.

Light saw L in Mello's ragged scrawny limbs, a hidden strength in the muscles lying under the shirt and jacket. Mello had the same mouth as L, and tongue—shooting an insulting joke to make up for the odd comment made a moment before. Impatient yet undeceive, but mind completely in sync with body, agile like L's unexpected ability to play tennis—well. Light didn't see Mello as a person either, instead a ghost of L as well. And god, it was Mello's diet of chocolates—king of all sweets—that reminded Light most of L, sapping up the sugar like there was no tomorrow, an insomniac with bags under discerning intelligent yes, a curtain of shoulder length hair attempting to cover the resemblance.

It wasn't over—L was not dead.

He lived in those two, meant to be replacements for l's force but in fact just mediums of L to continue haunting Light.

Everywhere.

Even in his sleep.

A rough tooth-bitten thumbnail scratched Light's cheek, lightly, playfully almost, before course fingers travelled down his jawline to caress the back of his neck.

Lips followed in descent: Light tasted sweet remnants of strawberry shortcake on his tongue and couldn't help but raise his hands up to tussle silky black hair, pulling and twisting on thick locks to keep the kiss down on him.

Breath empty, he withdrew. Obsidian would meet amber but be unable to read the other's eyes, instead, giving attention to the slow unbuttoning of Light's dress shirt. By abdomen, the other was in only jeans and Light ran his hands up cool skin, over lightly protruding spine, later sturdy ribs, jutting shoulder blades, rippled muscle…

It was the second before eyes would meet again that he'd wake up, gasping for air in the drowning dream.

Light knew L won the moment he met him.

Viral.

Potent.

Dormant.

Just waiting for sleep to weaken him before striking again in his nightmares.

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><p><strong>thir13enth<strong>


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